Across the globe, Apple launched the iPhone 4 in five countries Thursday, generating long lines and unparalleled buzz, as only an Apple product launch can do.

As lines outside of Apple's retail stores in the U.S. snaked further back, the wait time for hopeful phone purchasers also grew. At the Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York, hundreds of people were lined up before the store opened at 7 a.m.

Frustration in the line grew, however, after the store opened, when the store began taking just two customers at a time, and engaged in a lengthy setup process with all of them. The store also merged the preorder and purchase lines, meaning some who didn't have a reservation got their handset before others who reserved an iPhone 4.

At the Miami Beach Apple store on Lincoln Road, the reservation line had between 200 and 300 people by the 7 a.m. store opening time, according to Bridget Carey of The Miami Herald. The line was just as long for those customers without a reservation, and many of them were turned away due to limited availability.

Demand has been an issue for Apple's iPhone 4 launch since last week, when the company began accepting preorders. An influx of customers attempting to purchase the handset from both Apple and AT&T, its exclusive carrier in the U.S., caused a number of issues on the first day of preorders last Tuesday. AT&T's verification system for existing customers experienced failure, and Apple was forced to begin rejecting callers from its 800-MY-APPLE number.

Despite customers' frustrations, all signs point to the iPhone 4 launch being a tremendous success for Apple. The company revealed that the first day of preorders alone garnered 600,000 sales.

To ensure they would get an iPhone 4, some began camping out in front of Apple stores a week ago, and by Wednesday crowds had already grown outside stores like the iconic Fifth Avenue glass cube. Some reserved their phone for pickup, while others were simply hoping to buy one after Apple sold through its initial allotment of shipments.

Some customers who prepurchased were lucky enough to receive the device on Wednesday, as Apple uncharacteristically allowed the devices to be delivered before the official launch date. Many speculated the decision was made to prevent servers from crashing by spreading out activations, as hundreds of thousands of iPhone 4 customers would attempt to turn on their new device in a single day.

Those who didn't brave the lines on Thursday may have to wait some time for the iPhone 4, as new orders from Apple are scheduled to ship by July 14. In addition, AT&T expects to have more devices available on June 29. And those waiting for the white iPhone 4 will have to wait until late July, as Apple said that the device proved "more challenging to manufacture than expected."

For a better look at the line waiting for the iPhone 4 at Apple's Fifth Avenue store, see the following video provided by AppleInsider reader Alexander Fringes:

I was number 2 inline at the apple store in Garden state plaza in paramus new jersey, got 2 iphone 32 gb and 2 bumper cases. In and out in less than 15 minutes. line was crazy long. but man its like walking the march of death with the people at the end of the line looking at you. well you should have came earlier, suuuuckkkkaaaaaas lol , just joking , but i wish them luck, oh i made it to work on time to. lets see if i get anywork done though

Are any stores getting less than their allotment for pre-orders? I've got to drive an hour to pick up mine, and I don't want to get there and find out there's not enough phones to satisfy those with reservations.

I got in line at memorial city mall here in Houston at 3:30 am. I was about 100 people deep. The early people had gotten there at 5 pm yesterday. Funny part? They didn't reserve and I got my phone before they did. Hahahahahahahaha.

Are any stores getting less than their allotment for pre-orders? I've got to drive an hour to pick up mine, and I don't want to get there and find out there's not enough phones to satisfy those with reservations.

Just picked up mine in Hickory, NC. Only 6 iPhones were delivered yesterday for today's pickup day, I was one of the lucky ones. They're turning away a lot of unhappy customers who thought that they'd have their iPhone in hand this morning.

The AT&T Store didn't have the latest version of iTunes installed on their computers? So I had to take mine home to activate. Everything has gone smoothly :-)

i know a lot of you hate AT&T, but at the Westfarms Mall in Connecticut, but when i got to the mall [5 minutes before 7 am] there were a few hundred people in the Apple line and SEVEN people in front of me at the AT&T "experience" store. when the ATT store opened up, they let 10 people in right away [the whole line minus two people]. i was out of the store in 5 minutes with two activated iPhones.

total time from getting to the "line" to having my preorders in hand: 10 minutes.

I waited at the Louisville, KY store for ~2+ hours, they had two lines, one for reserve, one for pick ups. However, the Apple store personnel didn't look like they had their crap together, were too busy showing off, and it was taking forever. They were only taking about 5 people at a time in the store.

I'm glad that I pre-ordered (and received mine yesterday). There has never been a line this long at the store on 5th avenue. It's almost unbelievable, especially considering that it is 90+ degrees in NYC today.

I called the store (Raleigh, NC), and the girl indicated they have enough phones to take care of everyone who reserved one. They must have extras because she said there are two lines -- one for those who reserved and one for everyone else. She said the reserved phones are set aside and will be held until the end of the day. I'll head up there sometime this afternoon.

I just walked into my local mall where I've waited every year in fairly long lines (300+ people). This year I turned around and walked right back out in disbelief. I reserved 2 phones and will probably head back up (dreading it). The lines stretched all the way into the anchor tenants at each far end of the mall. This year there are ALOT more people than in previous years; I mean a lot more! Probably 3000 folks.

Good for you. This instant gratification, entitlement culture is really weird, almost bordering on OCD. It creeps me out.

I don't think this has anything to do with instant gratification and entitlement. Note that people had to pre-order pretty much a week ago Tuesday and then wait 9 days just to stand in a very long line to get their device. I see nothing instant about that. Even if you had it delivered to your home it's still not even close to falling under the definition of instant.

I think I understand what you're getting at, but I don't think the terms used are accurate. Perhaps it falls underpositional good or conspicuous consumption. I'm not even sure it's either of those of if this "phenomena" is any different than it used to be. It may just be that technology evolves so fast offering a lot more for less that the appearance of this "phenomena" is more pronounced For example, people rushing out to see a new movie opening night or weekend seems to be the same thing. Being first to buy a product and being first to see a new movie. Perhaps it's the increasing demand pitted against limited supply that makes happen.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

North Austin's store was out of control line wise, 1000's of folks in line for pre-order.

To that end, the store did a great job. At least 50 employees were there to check everyone out, and they even catered the line with scones and coffee from a local shop. The line was moving nicely, and the people in line were enjoying the time overall.

For the benefit for others, if you have a reservation you can pickup 2 phones, so call your friends and get their info.

As only apple can do? So, nintendo and sony haven't had lines for their consoles? Tickle me elmo never had lines? etc etc

TICKLE ME ELMO ??
was under produced and sales were strung out to keep hype at a high level
same BS as with the Wi console .. NINTENDOO gave 20 consoles a day all season to its 48th store and toys rus .
insuring a daily angry hyper line.
yet at both locations shipments of 100 to 300 would arrive daily at 2pm with a 2 minute wait sellout quickly .

toys RUS even had 5 pm sales giving 3 top selling wi titles for the price of 2

apple in a non xmas season has daily sellout lines in over 1500 locations and online also
apple also is doing a world wide sales today
3 months from now the ipad and iphone4 will still be in short supply no matter how fast the secound production lines ramp up

all the 18 mon>> 2 yr plans are now up >>>making sales of the 4 much higher than the 3g phone
10 times higher at least maybe 12x higher
dick tracey phone is now onsale
buy aapl and hold it
go apple

I was number 2 inline at the apple store in Garden state plaza in paramus new jersey, got 2 iphone 32 gb and 2 bumper cases. In and out in less than 15 minutes. line was crazy long. but man its like walking the march of death with the people at the end of the line looking at you. well you should have came earlier, suuuuckkkkaaaaaas lol , just joking , but i wish them luck, oh i made it to work on time to. lets see if i get anywork done though

That's where I got my 3G last year. Took me over four hours, but that was the only way to get one at that time.

We must be neighbors. I want to see the new baby, but will wait a few weeks for everything to calm down.